Dragon
by dazil0darlin
Summary: Kaida has a secret, but when Pitch finds her and delivers her to the Guardians, is her belief in the protectors of the world misguided? Is Pitch better to side with? The Guardians have to rush to save her from herself and from an enemy that threatens the whole globe. But will Kaida survive to decide who she wants to believe in and who she wants to save?
1. Nightmares

_Ok guys, this is my 2__nd__ fan fiction and my first Rise of the Guardians story. Criticism is allowed but only constructive please. __ ideas are welcome but nothing gross or anything like that , just saying. Read and review thanks. __**Note: italics = thoughts. **_

I beat hopelessly against the Nightmare's rib cage as I felt myself weakening, almost like it was sucking my strength out of me. Probably was._ Crap._ Fear tugged at my heart and lungs as panic set Nightmare's speed picked up, it's black hooves pushing off the frozen ground of Burgess, then we were flying. Literally. _Double crap._

I struggled again, getting just enough leverage to kick my bare feet against the Nightmare's ribs, but it just gave a loud whinny and went faster, it's ribs closing in so tight that it was a struggle to breathe. _ How can black sand be so….solid? _ I didn't like it and I screamed in frustration and then in fear as a man that seemed almost to be made out of shadows appeared, flying next to the Nightmare. He seemed to have no trouble keeping up with the fast pace, and the black demon of a horse that I was stuck in didn't even seem fazed by him.

He grinned at me, almost seeming to enjoy seeing me stuck in the Nightmare. Putting his hand on the horse's back, then smoothing it's mane he slowed it to a stop.  
"Help me." I whispered, but he just shook his head and grinned maliciously as he spoke, his deep voice smug and full of self-arrogance. I didn't even know who this guy was and I already hated him.

"It seems you have yourself in a bit of a situation, don't you now, little girl?"

I just bared my teeth and hissed at him. Nobody calls me a little girl and gets away with it. I squeezed my hand through the ribs of the great beast and made a vicious swipe at his throat, but I only clutched black sand as he dissolved into shadows.

"Tut tut, one mustn't lose one's temper." He gloated from somewhere I couldn't see.

I swiveled my neck, turning it on a painful angle, to try and seek him out again so I could kill him – that's how pissed off I was. I clenched my left hand tighter, squeezing the black sand between my fingers. I squirmed, searching for any way out of the now stationary horse, kicking and punching anything I could, but I was tired, so tired.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you", he said, appearing in front of me, his black cloak billowing in an unseen wind.

"But that's just it, isn't it? You're not me you bast-" My hateful words were cut off as he clicked his fingers and suddenly every exposed piece of skin burned as it came into contact with the black sand. I screamed and tried to pull my left hand from the bars where I had reached through to grab him, but the ribs only tightened, trapping my wrist, the burning sensation almost too much to bear.

He laughed watching me squirm to try and get away from the painful black substance, despite that I was trapped in it.

"Let's see what the Guardians say about you, you miserable little wench, let's see if you still believe if they can't save you." With that he placed a hand on the horse's forehead before disappearing once more into the shadows. I was fighting the pain that took over me, but my skin burned so painfully it was hard to see straight.

Suddenly the Nightmare reared and turned steeply downwards, galloping hard and fast through air that was steadily getting colder, giving my burns some relief. That was when I noticed the gleaming castle below us, carved out of what looked like stone and perched on an icy cliff.

_Shieet, it's the North Pole! _ I realized as the Nightmare flew over it, it's ribs coming apart and sending me flying diagonally towards a large glass window in the side of the palace. I tried desperately to conjure anything that would help me fly as I felt myself starting to lose consciousness as I flew through the window, glass shattering everywhere as I landed on bright red carpet and rolled uncontrollably.

Just as I lost consciousness I heard the shadow man's voice call softly through the air, mockingly.  
_ Here's your believer, can you save her?_


	2. Broken Glass

The Guardians were in the middle of a meeting about whether it was safe for them to go back to their own homes. It had been 2 weeks since Pitch had attacked and Sandman had come back. They sat in various spots in a large red room with a roaring fire in the hearth. Large red couches spotted the red carpet, colored a deep maroon color, lit up by a large crystal chandelier

Tooth sat, fidgeting with the feathers on the back of her hands, Bunnymond leaned casually against the wall, arms crossed. Sandman sat quietly on a red couch while North paced and Jack stood on the top of his staff, balancing perfectly.

"We don't actually know he's gone", North said exasperatedly, just as Bunny said: "I need to go and check up on my Warren – I haven't been there for 2 weeks!"

Tooth stood from the couch where she was sitting, now she hovered about 6 inches from the red carpet. She was just about to say something when the window that Jack was in front of standing on his staff exploded.

In amongst the jagged glass shards that flew through the room, knocking Jack off his staff and to the floor, was a teenage girl. She rolled a few paces before coming to a stop on her back, in amongst the glass that now littered the floor. Jack picked himself off the floor with a groan, though he was unharmed by the glass and went to stand by the girl, soon joined by the curious Guardians who were getting over their shock.

She wore cut up black skinny jeans, a dark green t-shirt, almost ripped to shreds and a small tattered black jacket. Her ink black hair spread out in a fan around her head, and every visible piece of her tanned skin looked either badly burnt or cut up from flying through the glass pane of the window. Her cheeks were slightly flushed and her red lips were open slightly as she struggled to breathe, her eyes not flickering beneath her closed lids. She had a large cut under her left eye which bled down her face and she made no noise as she lay on the floor, unconscious.

Then Pitch's voice floated in on the icy wind coming through the now broken window, _here's your believer, can you save her? _

The Guardians whirled in hopeless circles, searching for the owner of the voice – Pitch.

They couldn't see him and they turned their attention once more to the girl on the floor, that's when they realized she was coated in black sand.

Tooth broke the silence, flitting around the unconscious girl nervously, before she piped up, "shouldn't we do something? She needs medical help! North?" She turned to the leading Guardian who was staring down at the girl.

"Yes, we should", he said, in answer to Tooth. He clicked his fingers and two yeti's stepped through the door, coming over to the Guardians. North made another motion with his fingers and one of the yetis picked the girl up gently, cradling her bridal style. Despite the pain that would no doubt of caused her if she were awake she made no response – no flinches, or quick intakes of breath.

The yeti walked out of the room with her, the Guardians following behind as the yeti walked into one off the many guest rooms, laying her gently on the freshly made king size bed. She looked so small and injured in amongst the white sheets and pillows.

North cleared his throat before looking at Tooth, who stood in front of Sandy, Jack and Bunny. She looked like a worried hen. "Err, she probably needs those cuts taken care of and those burns tended to, and a proper look over. Could you do that Tooth?"

The Tooth Fairy looked at the disgruntled North and finally she understood – She probably had the most medical knowledge out of them, because of her teeth-collecting and she would also have to undress the girl to tend to her wounds – something that the male Guardians weren't comfortable doing. She nodded and ushered them out, as North handed her a first – aid kit that the second yeti had been carrying. Bunny, Sandy and North walked out of the room and down the hall – presumably to clean up the glass mess, but Jack lingered, watching the girl with curiosity and concern. Tooth pushed him out of the room and slammed the door shut in his face before turning to the injured girl.

Giving the girl a closer look she felt her heart sink – she had several large cuts on her arms and legs and her burns were very severe.

She sighed and as she undressed the poor girl, she hoped and hoped that she wouldn't die.


	3. Blood & Sand

**Hey guys, sorry about the really short chapters, this one will hopefully be longer, if you have any ideas or queries, please PM me. Thanks **** Please R + R**

Tooth started with her cuts, carefully pulling large shards of glass from deep cuts and slowly and methodically stitching her skin back together. She soon accumulated a small pile of pointy glass shards, stained with the mystery girl's blood. Tooth got a small white flannel and put it in hot water, before she wrung it out and gently cleaned the blood from her limbs and torso before she started to look after her burns.

Rummaging in the large first aid kit she found some burn cream and gauze bandages. She cleaned the blood and sand off the girl's bruised and battered body and then applied the burn cream liberally to her burned skin. Some places, like her calves and her left shoulder required bandages. Tooth then looked at her left wrist and her worried frown deepened – the burn looked to be the worst of all of them and her wrist looked positively munted.

**(Sorry, but I had to have munted in there somewhere :P )** Tooth cleaned the sand from the deep gash of a burn, gently as she could, wincing as though she were the one feeling the pain that the girl was probably feeling at some level of her consciousness. She smeared it with burn cream and wrapped up her wrist tightly with the clean white bandages.

She then went about finding her some clothes – her other clothes were shredded, well all of them except her small black jacket, but that wouldn't suffice for her wardrobe. She looked around the room looking for something that could contain clothes possibly. The large king size bed that the girl was lying on, maroon carpet, 2 large windows on the far wall, door leading out into the corridor, chest of drawers with mirror on top, door to ensuite bathroom.. wait! Chest of drawers! She fluttered over to them and to her surprise and delight she found exactly what she was looking for – clothes.

She pulled out a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, a deep green tank top, black knee high boots and flitted back over to where the girl lay motionless on the bed, gathering her black jacket into her pile of clothes as well.

Tooth once more winced at the sight of her – she was skinny, like she didn't always get her meals, and she looked a little, scratch that, a lot on the side of worse for wear, covered in burns, gashes and bruises as she was.

Tooth sighed and set about dressing her, trying to avoid hurting any of the injured places on her body, which was difficult considering the state she was in.

The rest of the guardians stood in the longue where the girl had come crashing through the window. The yetis had quickly and efficiently cleaned up the glass and were now working on installing a new window. They went about it with an ease that suggested this happened often- windows shattering. And looking at the little red elves running round crazily, Jack didn't doubt that it did.

North was pacing in front of the hearth, stroking his long white beard and looking troubled.

He pondered and pondered, occasionally speaking his thoughts out loud as Jack, Bunny and Sandy watched him, their expressions mimicking his.

"Pitch must be back", the large man muttered in his thick Russian accent.

"But no, he was attacked by own Nightmares, how is possible?"

Then Jack spoke up from where he was standing next to Sandy. "She's human right? How about we check the globe? She's bound to be on there – it might give us some idea who she is, right?"

North nodded, and Jack led the procession into the globe room.

North immediately looked to a Burgess. Jack stood next to him, pointing to one of the brightest lights on the globe. "There's Jamie", Jack said, at the same time that North muttered under his breath, "there's somebody missing."

"Huh?"Jack said, but North was to busy scouring the small part of the globe that represented Burgess. Then he froze, and slowly turned the globe so that the North Pole was visible. There, right where North's palace stood, was a strong golden light. And as they watched the light sputtered and then started to fade away.

Tooth had her in the clothes, and was just contemplating whether she should tie her hair up, when the girl started to cough, gently at first but they got more and more violent as the girl struggled to breathe.

Tooth froze, half expecting the girl to sit up and ask for a glass of water. The girl's coughs got more violent and suddenly with her coughs she was bringing up black sand and then blood. Lots and lots of blood. Her body shuddered violently with each cough until she stopped moving altogether and Tooth unfroze from where she was standing, watching her, unsure of what to do. She rushed to her side and quickly cleaned around her mouth with the wet flannel and was just going to clean up her now bloody pillow when she coughed, more violently this time and Tooth had to hold her shoulders down to the bed as her body shook with each cough, covering her bed with blood and black sand but somehow not coughing on Tooth or herself. Again it stopped, but this time her breathing stopped with it.


	4. Memoirs

Tooth stopped wiping the girl's face and muttered to herself, "no no this cant be happening, this cant be happening. No no no.." She trailed off as she stared at the girl, watching as the blood slowly drained out of her face leaving her sickly pale, no, deathly pale.

Tooth felt her eyes well up with tears but in a desperate rush she ran to the girls side, desperately trying to remember CPR from her human years, so long ago. She turned in shock as the door burst open, and Jack, North, Bunny and Sandy piled into the room. Jack saw her first and he ran over to her, one look at Tooth's face telling him all he needed to know.

"No no, isn't there something we can do?" Looking at the other Guardian's miserable faces, they seemed to have already accepted that nothing could be done, though that seemed only to strengthen his resolve to do something. He whirled to the girl, and ignoring the blood that stained her lips, he pushed his lips to hers.

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"Jack what are you doing?" he heard Tooth gasp behind him, her normally cheery voice full of tears. He exhaled slowly, his lips still pushed to her and then he released her lips from his and started doing compressions on her chest, counting out 15 before turning to her face again, trying to breathe for her.

Tooth grasped onto what he was doing and when he next released her lips to draw breathe and do compressions he saw Tooth was already ahead of him, her lips moving as she counted to 15 silently. Tooth must have felt his searching gaze because she looked up at him and smiled weakly at him, tears overflowing from her beautiful violet eyes.

The pair worked like this for about 4 minutes before North quietly came up and gently but firmly pulled them away from the girl's body. Jack struggled to get back to her, yelling in feverish despair, "she's not dead! She can't be!" But soon he stopped struggling and hung his head, his arms limp at his sides. Tooth sobbed openly and when Bunny and Sandy opened their arms she ran into them.

North pulled a sheet over the girl's face, smoothing her black hair back from her forehead with almost fatherly love before gently pulling the dumbstruck Guardians with him out the door.

North was murmuring something about getting a yeti to dig a grave but Tooth and Jack weren't listening. Their minds reeled and unbeknownst to each other their thoughts were exactly alike.

_**Why couldn't I save her?**_

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The Guardians were, for the third time that day, in a meeting, in the same longue where it had all started.

Jack was standing, twirling his staff through his fingers distractedly, as Tooth sat on a couch, surrounded by North, Bunny and Sandy as they tried to convince her that it wasn't her fault that the girl had died.

A yeti had been summoned and commanded to dig a grave and then they would give a proper service – or as proper as they could – to the girl.

Suddenly Jack had a thought and he twirled his staff upright before jumping over to North.

"North, you said before in the globe room 'someone is missing' does that mean you know who she is?"

Bunny looked up from Tooth, glad for an interruption – he had never been good with female emotions.

"Err", the big man seemed stuck as how to talk about this girl.

He looked around at the interested faces around him – even Tooth had stopped crying at the thought of possibly being able to know exactly who this mystery girl was.

"Err", he said again, before clearing his throat and meeting the eyes of the Guardians around him.

"Her name is Kaida, meaning little dragon, but you see, err, umm, *throat clear*" he took a deep breath and then said all in a rush as if he pushed the qwords out faster the wouldn't have as much effect as he knew they would.  
"Her father is Pitch."

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Moonlight filtered through the intricately carved glass windows, the silver light seeking out the body of a small girl on a large bed surrounded by black sand and blood.

Slowly, as the moonlight came to fully illuminate her body shrouded in white silk, her body started to levitate about half a meter off the bed. With a rustle of cloth the sheet slid off her, revealing her, as the blood around her disappeared and the black sand turned to silver dust.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%  
As North knew it would happen, the Guardians around him exploded.

"WHAT?!" – Jack  
"But, what, no, that can't, what?" – Tooth

"The Sheila's dad's Pitch? How do you know?" – Bunny

*Images to fast to follow* - Sandy

Just then, the yeti burst into the room, grunting something in his language to which North nodded and silenced the confused Guardians with a raised hand.

"The grave is ready, we must bury, then discuss."

Bunny hopped round, agitated, as Tooth fluttered in circles, muttering under her breathe about Pitch being a lousy father for letting his daughter die when suddenly she stopped short. She opened her mouth to say something but Jack bet her to it.

"But, if Pitch is Kaida's dad then why is she covered in black sand – Pitch's sand? Did he kill her – his own daughter?"

"Is she the only daughter he has, or does he have more children?" Tooth put in.

North shook his head, and once more put up his hand to stop the barrage of questions.

"How is I know? I don't know, but hey, I am Santa. Now burial," he pointed out the windows at the Man In the Moon, shining brightly on the surrounding ice, making the landscapes shine with celestial brilliance. "Man In Moon will watch burial, maybe he help, maybe not. We will figure out rest later, no? Funeral then sleep, tomorrow we figure, tonight we sleep." He shrugged his large shoulders and headed down the hallway towards the room where the dead girl laid, the confused Guardians in tow.

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Kaida felt her memories, just within her grasp, but one stood out from the rest. On the day before last, it started just like any other day…

_Kaida opened her eyes groggily, yawning and stretching her tired muscles. She hadn't got enough sleep, again, but she smiled as she looked at the sleeping form of her little sister beside her in their narrow bed, curled up, deep in slumber. She shifted her weight and slowly, so as not to disturb the sleeping girl eased herself out of bed. She smiled as she set her bare feet on cold floorboards and rushed to the window, her grin increasing in size when she saw the snow that lay like a thick white blanket over everything in the small town of Burgess._

_Jack never failed to deliver on time, seeing as it was the first day of winter and all. She turned away from the exciting view in the window and walked quickly over to their only other piece of furniture in the room – an old and battered chest of oak drawers that held her and her sister's scarce belongings. Rifling through the creaky drawers she pulled out ripped black skinny jeans and a dark green t-shirt. Grabbing her converse and her old but trustworthy black jacket she pulled them on, before leaning over the sleeping girls frame and planting a soft kiss on her forehead. "I'll be back later, Lucy. I love you" She walked out the door and walked down the stairs in silent movements – something she'd had to practice more and more lately as her mother got drunk more and more often. She was just grabbing an apple and about to sneak out the back door when her mum came through the door from the longue which adjoined to her bedroom. "And where do you think you're going?" Kaida felt her heart sink with dread when she heard that her mother's words were slurred._

"_Just out and about", Kaida said in a cheery voice as she edged towards the door. _

"_Oh no you don't", the older woman slid in front of the door and sneered at her, showing her alcohol stained teeth. Kaida recoiled slightly at the stench of booze coming off her, and that was enough to set her off. "You think that I'm disgusting do you? Think that you are above me because you like to go round smelling like roses. You always thought you were better than me, didn't you? Even more so when your father left. You know he left because of you, you smug little bitch." The first blow landed, sending her into the wall, her head ringing with pain. The second blow landed, then the third then the fourth. And along with the blows came accusations – accusations about her being the reason that her father left, her being the reason that the family had no money – always spending it on her "animal charity" "You ungrateful little wench, always caring more about your stupid little animals than about the pain you've caused this family." Blow after blow came, but Kaida did not let herself whimper – weakness would only anger her more, especially if she was in a drunken rage._

"Now get out of my sight!" The older woman said disgustedly, brushing her dirty blonde hair out of her once-beautiful face as she searched for another whiskey bottle.

Kaida ran outside, refusing to let her tears fall, as she let the snow numb her pain.


	5. Memoirs, Part 2

_That was the day that Kaida left. Without bothering to grab anything from the house she ran for the forests that surrounded Burgess. She vowed to one day come back for Lucy – She hoped that her mum wouldn't hurt her – Kaida had suffered enough for both of them in the past years. She ran, lingering only at the tree line to look back on the homely looking cottage that she knew she could never return to. It looked homely but it never was and never would be._

_When she found the German Shepard she knew immediately she had to help. It sat under a large pine tree, licking its paw and whimpering in pain. She walked slowly over to it, making soothing noises as she got closer to look at it's paw. The snow under it was stained red. Slowly she sat down next to the dog, stroking her coat reassuringly as she slowly picked up the injured paw and turned it over. The dog growled but didn't bite as she turned it over – she seemed to know Kaida wouldn't hurt her and was trying to help her. A large shard of glass poked out from the wound in between the footpad of the dog. Kaida searched in her jacket pockets and finally found a hankie. She swiftly pulled the shard of glass out and then wrapped the paw in the hankie, stopping the bleeding._

"_There you go girl", Kaida soothed as she stroked the dog's face and shoulders. Then a loud noise made her look up. From the sky a large mare was galloping down looking like it was made entirely out of black sand. Kaida stood frozen, waiting for her mind to comprehend what it saw. Instead she was filled with terror as it gave a loud whinny and charged her. _

_She turned and ran, and behind she heard the German Shepard barking and she thanked the dog silently in her mind for slowing the nightmarish thing down. But as she risked a glance back she wished she hadn't – the nightmare dissolved into a cloud of sand that parted around the now standing dog and formed again on the other side, still charging her. The turn cost her and she felt the thick root of a pine tree on the top of her boot, concealed with snow as she tripped and then the nightmare was upon her. She screamed as it ran straight over her, and when she opened her eyes it was to the sensation of flying – she was stuck in the mare's ribcage and they were flying over and away from Burgess._

_%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%_

Kaida gasped and her eyes flew open as she felt her body sink back to the bed. Had she been floating? Was it all just a dream – the nightmare, the running away from home? She swung her legs round so they were dangling off the bed as she scanned the room – a chest of drawers, the queen size bed she was sleeping in, 2 large windows and a door which probably led to the corridor. Kaida decided she had to explore and figure out where she was. As she stood up stiffly she realised she was wearing different clothes to what she had been wearing before. She now wore dark blue skinny jeans, a deep green tank top and black boots. The only thing that was familiar was her old black jacket.

She took a shaky step towards the door, then another but she could feel her dwindling strength – she wasn't up to walking, unless someone was there to support her. She fell to her knees, letting her black hair hang over her face as she lowered her head in defeat. Tears rolled down her face and she sent a silent thought to Lucy – _Lucy, I'm so sorry I can't come back for you. I'm in a strange place and I don't know what's happening. _ She sobbed, placing her hands on the floor as her shoulders shook, as in front of her the large oak door opened slowly.

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Jack pushed open the large oak door, with the other Guardians beside him, Tooth's quiet crying the only noise that disturbed the silence. Wait, no. He could hear another noise. He pushed the oak door open fully but then froze when he saw the girl sobbing, kneeling on the floor in front of him – the one who had died not an hour before, the one who he hadn't been able to save. The one he had thought lost.


	6. Attack By Nightmares

The girl looked up, and he felt trapped in her eyes – a blazing gold with strong streaks of silver threading though, as the girl met his gaze. Tears streaked her face and her cut was healing before his eyes. The other guardians stared at her as well, before North broke the silence: "I think we need to talk."

%%%

They all sat in the longue where she had first appeared. Introductions had been made and stories told. Kaida had told hers- She had left home the day the Nightmare caught her, sick of her mother's drunken blame for her non-existent father. She found the dog, and was captured by a Nightmare. And the rest they knew, or guessed as much. Tooth was, needless to say, absolutely ecstatic that Kaida was no longer dead, though none knew or could guess the reason for MIM (Man In Moon) reviving her.

They sat talking as Kaida tried to grasp what was happening. Then a yeti came crashing as North yelled, "how many times have I asked you to knock?!" it appeared that the yetis came crashing in quite often – but not the thing that was happening to the globe. The guardians rushed out and Kaida followed them, unsure of her part in it.

"Pitch is back." – North

"Again?" – Tooth

"Blimey, slimy little bugger ain't he?" - Bunny

"Does he not know when to stop?" – Jack

*Rapid succession of images of golden sand* - Sandy

"We need to go, to the sleigh!" – North.

"But what about Sheila?" – Bunny

"Kaida won't be safe!" – Tooth

"Kaida can come with us and help us whip his ass" – Jack

Kaida silenced their arguing and talking with one whispered sentence.

"I'm coming, but I want my memories."

Everyone stops and looks at her, as Jack looks at her concernedly. "Are you sure? They're not all happiness and sunshine."

North interrupts though, "Can look at memories on sleigh, now to Burgess!"

%%%

The sleigh races towards Burgess as Tooth passes Kaida her tooth box. She sits beside Jack in the back, Bunny (looking faintly sick) beside Sandy is in front of them and Tooth is flying beside the sleigh.

She grasps a firm hold of Jack's hand absentmindedly as she opens her box. She squeezes her eyes shut as she is overwhelmed by memories.

_Kaida is 5 years old, walking along the beach, holding the hand of a tall man beside her. When she looks up he looks down on her, amber eyes smiling at her as she runs towards a woman further up the beach, smiling as well the same tender loving smile as she kneels and snaps a picture of father and daughter on the beach. _

_Kaida is 11 years old, cowering against the kitchen cupboards as her drunk mother staggers through the door, anger twisting her features as she sees her daughter sitting on the floor. Then the first blow lands._

_Kaida is 15, helping a bird with a broken wing eat as she tries to make it comfortable and warm in a insulated box under her bed. Her mother is sober with a hangover as she watches from the doorway, muttering that it's helpless, and that she's spending valuable money on bird feed. Kaida makes an angry remark about her mothers drinking habit, and then she curls up waiting for a blow that doesn't come. Instead her mother breaks down and says that she's tried really hard with the girls, but its not easy when you're a single mother with no income. Then she gets angry, because according to her, Kaida is the reason that she's a single mother._

_Kaida is 17, reading an old Dr Seuss book aloud as Lucy snuggles up to her side, thumb in mouth as she begs Kaida for just one more story before lights out._

Kaida is dimly aware of tears trekking down her face as she remembers her last memory – Lucy snuggling up, a few days before Kaida left. Kaida realizes that she can no longer feel the wind in her hair, or the steady movement of the sleigh beneath her, but still she doesn't open her eyes. She hears the guardians calling her name and finally she opens her eyes, letting a few more tears escape, aware of the eyes of all the guardians as she climbs slowly out of the sled and starts to walk away.

"Where are you going?" She hears Jack call out behind her, then a rush of wind as he flies up to walk next to her. She doesn't look at him, just keeps walking as behind her she hears the voices of the guardians in conference. "Home."

%%%

The guardians follow at a respectful distance as Kaida walks up the familiar path to her front door, hoping that her mother isn't home, and that Lucy is. She raps on the front door but there's no answer, so she goes to the kitchen window and peers in. Nobody. She goes to the living room window and peers in, and sees something that chills her blood, but makes her hot all over – her mother is yelling at a cowering Lucy, and when she sees her lift up her hand in the all too familiar way she leaps forward, prepared to go through the glass to stop her. Strong hands hold her back as Jack whispers in her ear.

"They can't see you" to which Kaida just hisses, "Oh, I'll make her see me alright." Jack is just about to respond when they hear a cold chuckle behind them.

"Oh how touching", Pitch says mockingly, "all ready to jump in to save little sister when she can barely save herself." Kaida whirls on him, glaring as Jack's restraining hands pull her to the other guardians, before she can charge him and throw her hands around his throat.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you here and now." She yells angrily at him.

"My dear, I am your father, and good little girls should always be obedient. Come here, daughter", he says, crooking a finger at her. She shakes her head and he drops his hand, "that is a shame, because now that you have refused me thousands of young children will suffer fear, be too scared to walk alone, too scared to sleep without a light. But lights can easily be broken, as can happiness. Do you want that on your shoulders?" Kaida grimaced, angry that he was using threats against thousands of innocent children to get to her. Pitch grinned, seeing that he'd got to her and saying it once more, his voice forceful. "Come here, daughter." Kaida stepped towards him as Jack tried to pull her back, but Kaida couldn't stand the thought of kids in fear – she was too used to the feeling herself.

As she stepped next to Pitch he laughed evilly and made a signal with his fingers. Hundreds of Nightmares appeared, galloping a massive circle around Pitch – leaving no way for the guardians to get in to help and no way for Kaida to get out. "You made the right decision daughter – the guardians are too soft hearted, to focused on good to accept that you can't have a rainbow without a little rain. They're all on the defense of the children, but the don't know how to", he paused, smiling at Kaida in an evil sort of way as he whispered the last word. "Attack."

All of the surrounding Nightmares – hundreds – stopped circling and charged at Kaida.


	7. Dragon

*Cue 'Angel With A Shotgun' by 'The Cab'*

Kaida heard the guardians calling her name, heard Jack's shout of "Kaida!" especially loud above the rest, but the loudest noise was the hoof beats. The Nightmares turned to her and started charging and Kaida did the first thing that came to mind – she threw her arms out to the sides and shouted as loud as she could, "stop!"

The Nightmares stopped, all of them in a circle, facing her as she stood with arms outstretched.

Pitch landed in front of her, amber eyes blazing. "Nice party trick, but that won't save you dear daughter. Join me – think of everything we could do with a joint family power, we could be unstoppable! No more having to look after that little brat Lucy-" That was his mistake.

Kaida glowed with anger – literally, she glowed bright silver and everyone had to cover their eyes with their arms at the silver brilliance. When they blinked and looked back at Kaida their eyes widened and their jaws dropped. Right where Kaida had stood, now stood a pure white dragon the size of a big car. The only thing showing that the dragon was Kaida was the dragon's eyes – blazing silver, but if you looked carefully you can see streaks of amber.

Kaida roared and towered over a cowering Pitch, who was apologizing profusely, scrambling away into the cloud of whinnying Nightmares. The guardians stared at Kaida, then Jack rushed forward- he hated Pitch but he saw now that if he didn't stop Kaida then she would do something that she would regret for the rest of her life.

Jack jumped in front of her and found himself staring into her eyes, speaking in a reassuring voice. "Kaida, can you hear me? You need to stop, listen to me, ok? I get that Pitch did things to you and your family that you can never forgive, but if you kill him you're going to regret it for the rest of your life – killing is never something you want to do, no matter how much that person deserves to die."

Kaida glowed silver again and then the dragon shrank into Kaida, though everyone could see that her shadow was not the shadow of a human, but the shadow of a dragon. Kaida stumbled and Jack caught her. "Tired", she mumbled into Jack's shoulder, her eyelids drooping. The sun sunk lower on the horizon as Pitch rose, glaring at his daughter, "this isn't over. I'll see you again another time dear daughter." With those words he and his Nightmare's disappeared and the guardians ran over to Kaida, who was being supported by Jack. "Lucy", she mumbles and stumbles back to the window.

"Please", she says, turning back to the guardians. "You have to help her, please, she _believes_ in you." Jack is the first to nod, passing the close-to-unconscious Kaida to Tooth and opening the front door, before walking into the living room. Lucy's eyes widen in amazement and she yells delightedly "Jack Frost!" to which Jack responds with a grin, "the one and only." He reached his hand forward and Lucy eagerly takes it, allowing him to lead her out the door to the other guardians, where basically the same yelling excitedly and responses happen, then she is taken to the sleigh, riding on North's shoulders. Though everyone freezes as Jack asks Kaida if she's alright and Lucy asks, "who are you talking to?"

But Kaida just sniffs and looks on, not letting the guardians see her tears, buts she looks up as a single shaft of moonlight illuminates her and she starts to hover.

Kaida's eyes open fully and she feels her exhaustion fall off her, as MIM talks directly to her mind.

_You have done well, guardian. _Before she can question he carries on. _I grant you the powers to help any animal in need and to heal with the touch of a gentle hand. You are guardian of animals and safety. Use this wisely, and because you are now immortal like the other guardians Pitch no longer has to be classified as your father. You no longer have to bear the mark of his family line._

Kaida feels something in her eyes, like someone has taken off a cloth and it feels relieving. Slowly she is lowered to the ground and Jack smiles at her then gasps, "Your eyes!" "What?" Jack wordlessly crafts a mirror out of ice and passes it to her, and she stares at herself. Her eyes are a brilliant green with streaks of silver and a small white dragon hovers by her left shoulder. Her black hair is streaked with silver dust, and some is caught in her eyelashes, like minute snowflakes.

Before she can say something she feels a tug in her, something indescribable and she immediately looks to the forest, knowing that the German Sheppard who she helped before needs her help now.

Jack looks at her questioningly as do the other guardians and she smiles gently, "looks like I'm the Guardian of safety and animals, can I just?" She finishes in question and points to the forest, to which the Guardians smile and nod. She walks into the forest, vaguely aware of Jack following her as she follows her odd feeling to the German Sheppard with the infected paw. She finds her and she kneels, feeling Déjà vu as she gently holds the dogs paw between her fingers, feeling a rush of warmth as the dog's paw heals over. Jack gasps behind her before he laughs and says in typical Jack fashion, "that's so cool!" Kaida stands and grins before she walks out of the trees, to the waiting guardians. North gestures to the sled but she shakes her head and closes her eyes, concentrating.

Pure white wings sprout from between her shoulder blades, and she opens her eyes to find the guardians staring at them. She just grins and then pushes off, flapping hard and fast as she speeds towards the North Pole. She hears North and Jack yell indignantly behind her. "A! Your not meant to take advantage like that!" Jack yells, as North yells, "Aha! Race is on!"

Kaida just grins and goes faster, as behind her she hears North spur on his reindeer and Jack catches up. "Hey, K, you're not meant to get a head start like that." But Kaida just shakes her head then asks in a small voice. "Jack? What happens if no one believes in me? What about Lucy?" Jack just smiles at her, "don't worry, that shouldn't be a problem if I can help it, just take one day at a time", then he grins and spurts ahead.

"Now let's race!"

"Your on!"


End file.
